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Araby Bazaars

Decent Essays

But very much to his surprise and shock, the boy senses the absurdity of the whole scenario when he finally does arrive at the bazaar. It is ten minutes to ten, it is too late, just as the bazaar is closing. “Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness”9. He finds Araby much like North Richmond Street, empty and dark with few people. The boy is struck by “a silence like that which pervades a church after a service"9. In that dark silence the boundaries of his small, private world of the imagination dissolve. The Araby turns out not to be the most fantastic place he hoped it would be. Rather, it is exactly the sort of disappointing bazaar. The boy is so upset at the abysmal picture of Araby bazaar that …show more content…

He can see the parallel that exists between the girl here and his ‘girl’; he can see his feeling for her for what it is-physical attraction. However, the woman who should attend him grudgingly asks him if he wishes to buy something. The tone of her voice is ‘not encouraging’ and she is asking him so, just ‘out of a sense of duty’. Feeling unwanted by the woman, he says, ‘No, thank you’. As the woman turns and walks away, he realises that his idealized vision of Araby is destroyed/ thwarted, along with his idealized vision of Mangan’s sister: and of love. He cannot buy anything from Araby, and neither can he taste the glamour and the grandeur of the place he dreams. Basically the place is meant for commercial purposes. And in such a place no room exists for love in the daily lives of Dubliners. Before coming here, the boy was in the dream world. Now, he is quite helpless. Realizing that his thoughts of Mangan's sister and Araby have been nothing but dreams, the boy stands alone in the darkness with his shattered

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